Latest articles from Albania

Albania’s government is focusing on reforms designed to cut public debt and boost competition. Achieving economic stability will feed into the country’s EU aspirations, as minister of finance and economy Arben Ahmetaj tells Jason Mitchell.

Albania’s banks are expected to restart lending to the corporate sector, as government attempts to lower non-performing loans and reform the judicial system continue to improve the business environment and raise hopes of a future inside the EU. Jason Mitchell reports.

The turmoil in Greece is having an impact on financial markets throughout the eurozone, but this impact may be felt greater in its five neighbours where Greek banks have a particularly large presence: Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.

For years, Austrian lenders Erste Bank and Raiffeisen Bank have enjoyed strong profits at their central and eastern European operations, but with growth in these economies slowing, more recent results suggest that they may need to rethink their strategies in the region.

Despite its close proximity to crisis-hit Greece, Albania made its first foray into the Eurobond market last year. After agonising over when to issue the deal in such a volatile market, it would seem that the timing of the launch was just right. Writer Joanne Hart

Over the past decade, Greece's leading banks have expanded into south-east Europe. To remain competitive, however, they will now need to weather the financial storm and continue to focus on increasing their presence in the Balkans and the rest of eastern Europe. Writer Kerin Hope

Austria’s Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) has expanded its role in central and eastern Europe with the 100% acquisition of Albania’s largest bank, the Savings Bank of Albania. Following the failure of earlier attempts to privatise the bank, plans were announced by the government last September to sell it by tender and RZB paid $126m for all the bank, representing a 2.5 multiple ofbook value.